Monday, December 14, 2009

Red Hair and Red Twin Turbos

This past weekend was pretty exciting. Met a new model from Model Mayhem named Amber. She goes by Discordia Strife. She's got a beautiful face, knows her poses well, and willing to do just about anything for the right shot. I'm looking forward to working with her again soon.

My buddy Andrew brought me another car to shoot for The Orlando Examiner. It was the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO, and this car was incredible. I have nothing but great things to say about it. Twin Turbo, All Wheel Drive, fully loaded, I was impressed. The car we had was a pre-production car so it had it's flaws, however having been around promo cars like this before, I can say it's in excellent shape and performed flawlessly.

I had a blast getting creative with natural and florescent lighting. The shoot did take almost the entire day, but it was well worth it.

I did stand in a fire-ant hill for a few minutes before realizing it and suffered 20 or so bites, but I can't be mad. I crushed their homes. Who knows how long it took them to build that mansion! It was a huge hill. Not sure how I missed it.

I also twisted my ankle in the field, as we were in what looked like a lake bed at some point. Nothing like a few lasting reminders of how hard you work for the right shot.

After the shoot, we stopped over a local car meet, at Rock Springs Bar & Grill. Several beautiful classic cars were there including a Mach1 and a GTO, both in great condition. The owner and both DJ's from Michael's Big Show Karaoke were nice enough to come and introduce themselves. Very nice people.

'Til next week!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Do you love what you do?

Like most aspiring photographers, I have a day job. Hell, I have two other gigs if you count my association as Writer/Content Manager with www.junebugreview.com. Needless to say, I am one busy mofo.

My love for photography began when I was a junior in high school, taking a few classes, to broaden my artistic portfolio. I studied Graphic Design all four years, as well my last year in Junior High - right around the time Corel Draw was the standard for desktop publishing.

I really just wanted to make good with my then girlfriend's family. Her step dad was a combat journalist in Vietnam, and shot only Nikon and Pentax for the Army. He had tons of cameras and equipment just not getting used. I figured "hey, he won't mind, right?"

Needless to say, it was a love affair from that point forward. However, after high school her and I split up, hobbies changed, and I couldn't afford $10K in equipment while going to college. So, I moved onto other inexpensive things. Cars, beer, books, girls, etc.

Fast forward almost a decade, and several career choices later, I got bit by the photography bug again. Luckily, I have an awesome group of supportive friends who let me use and abuse them for my artistic pursuits.

Not to mention, my timing couldn't have been better.

Now that most of my friends and colleagues are at the age where they are having kids, getting married, celebrating anniversaries, and working on their own side projects, everyone needs pictures!

I'd say the best part about it all is that I'm still thirsty for it. I love the learning curve. I can draw influence from other photogs. I study whenever I can and never take myself too seriously.

If someone proposes a project for me that I just don't feel I have skill-set for, I'll be honest and point them in the right direction. Whether the logistics are infeasible. Or my availability is just an issue, I'm going to make sure I can pull the job off before offering my services.

I'd say this is the start to a beautiful thing.